Preparations

Setting up mdnovel

If mdnovel were a commercial application, all the steps described below would be performed automatically by the setup program. On Windows, for instance, this would then be an .exe or .msi file that must be executed with special authorizations and may even require a costly certificate in order to be approved for download and installation.

There is also the problem that a separate setup program would have to be created and maintained for each operating system. For Linux, it would be necessary to provide installation packages or images, whereby there are a multitude of different standards.

Because I don’t run a software business, but am just a hobbyist and rather want to write novels, I’ve decided to go a different route: I provide an executable Python zip archive that works the same way on all operating systems if Python is installed correctly. No Internet connection is required to install and operate mdnovel.

The very last setup steps, which vary depending on the operating system and may also require special authorizations, must be carried out by the intrepid users themselves. I do what I can to make these steps easier, and provide detailed instructions for Windows below. Enjoy!

Installing the application

Step 1

  • Either launch the downloaded mdnovel_vx.x.x.pyzw file by double-clicking (Windows/Linux desktop),

  • or execute

    `python mdnovel_vx.x.x.pyzw` (Windows), resp.

    `python3 mdnovel_vx.x.x.pyzw` (Linux) on the command line.

“x.x.x” means the version number.

In both cases, a pop-up window should appear indicating that the installation was successful.

Important

Many web browsers recognize the download as an executable file and offer to open it immedately. This starts the installation.

However, depending on your security settings, your browser may initially refuse to download the executable file. In this case, your confirmation or an additional action is required. If this is not possible, you have the option of downloading the zip file.

Making mdnovel accessible on the Desktop

Note for Linux users

In the following chapters, the Windows procedure is described.

As a Linux user, you are expected to know how to set up a program launcher on your specific desktop. Roughly speaking, it is a matter of calling python3 with ~/.mdnov/run.pyw and an optionally specified file as parameters.

With the XFCE desktop, for example, my launcher command is:

python3 /home/peter/.mdnov/run.pyw %F

You might have to copy the mdnovel icons to a dedicated image directory where your program launcher gets the icons from. You also may want to set mdnovel as standard application for files with the .mdnov extension, and assign them the mdnovel logo as file icon. With the XFCE desktop, none of this was too difficult for me. In doubt, refer to your desktop documentation.

Step 2

Open the installation folder.

Step 3

Drag and drop run.pyw to the desktop while holding down the Alt key. This creates a shortcut to launch mdnovel from the Windows desktop. Now you can also drag and drop .mdnov project files to this shortcut.

Step 4

Optionally, you can replace the “Python” icon with the mdnovel logo you may find in the installation’s icons subdirectory.

To do this, right-click on the desktop shortcut and open the Properties dialog. Select the Shortcut Tab and click on the Change icon button (1). In the icon selection dialog, click on the Browse… button (2). This opens a file selection dialog. Move to <home>\.mdnov\icons and double-click on the “N” logo (3).

Step 5

To rename the shortcut to mdnovel, right-click on the desktop shortcut and open the Properties dialog. In the first tab, replace “Shortcut to run.pyw” with “mdnovel”.

Updating the application

Just execute the first step as described above. If there is any further action required, the setup script will give you a message.